Are You CPR Trained? Logan Hearn Takes Control And Saves His Brother’s Life

It only takes a minute. You step away to check on an overflowing pot on the stove or to answer the phone and before you know it, your toddler is out of your sight.

That’s what happened to an Illinois mom last week and when Tabitha Hearn realized her 2-year-old son, Brendan was missing and saw a door to the backyard was open her first thought was to check the pool, which is where she found the boy, face down. When she pulled him out he was already blue in the face, so she called 911 while starting to perform CPR, as Brendan’s 9-year-old brother, Logan looked on. Although she was working quickly, she was in a panic, without the composure needed in such an emergency.It was at that moment, when the worst might have happened that Logan stepped in and took control. Having recently learned CPR as part of a junior lifeguard course, the 9-year-old grasped the situation and told his mom she wasn’t doing it right and to step aside. The little boy remained calm, set his brother up the way he had learned in class and started to breathe life back into Brendan. After a couple of breaths the toddler spit up water and a bit of food and seconds later started to breathe on his own.

Moments after that, paramedics arrived on the scene and took Logan to the hospital where he stayed overnight with his parents watching over him. While the boy was not seriously hurt, he was unconscious until the second minor miracle occurred. It wasn’t until Logan walked into the hospital room the next morning around 11AM and urged his little brother to wake up that Brendan opened his eyes. From there on it’s a happy story and we are proud to name Logan Hearn an AmericanTowns Hero this week. If not for his ability to remain calm and take charge the outcome might have been tragic.

According to the medical staff at the Joliet, Illinois area hospital where Brendan was taken, the boy would not have survived much longer with so much water in his lungs.Â Brendan is home now and he and Logan are both back to running and playing as usual. Family, friends and neighbors are all proud of Logan and grateful for the emergency personnel who arrived on the scene within minutes to help save the boy’s life.

Public and private pools are seeing their share of activity this summer with the prolonged period of heat in many parts of the country, which is why local municipalities as well as the federal government have stepped up their efforts to promote pool safety. According to the national statistics, “nearly 300 children under the age of five drown in residential and public pools and spas each year.”

It only takes a minute, even less, for a toddler to fall into a pool. Not every family has a Logan standing by to perform CPR.

Are you trained in CPR? Do you think you would be able to perform the procedure in an emergency?

http://www.redcross.org/Prepare for Emergencies with American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Courses